Memories of 4th Annual Victoria County Tourism Conference, Baddeck

The New Media Team, Kimberley MacAulay, Bob Harrison and Gerard MacNeil, part of the 2007 Tourism conference team , produced a short video of photos on YouTube, to illustrated New Media and Web 2.0. Enjoy some of the memories of Tourism 2.0- Understanding the New Web” conference, November 6th at St. Michael’s Parish Hall, Baddeck.

 

Tropical Storm Noel – The Behind the Scenes Conference Story

High winds and rain passed through Victoria County this past weekend from Tropical Storm Noel and caused quite a bit damaged with the power lines. Many of the communities were without power and some just got it back on Tuesday evening, 3 days later.  Needlessly to say the last few days before the Tourism 2.0 conference were very interesting.

On Sunday, I had lost my power at Jersey Cove for almost 6 hours. I began to get worried when NS Power said for my area, power would be restored on Tuesday at 11:00 am.  Off to work on Monday and as I crossed on the Ferry I overheard Englishtown still has no power. By 9:00 am. I had pretty well got the whole scoop – more communities still without power – South Haven, Middle River, parts of Big Baddeck, Baddeck and St. Ann’s.  The conference was at the Gaelic College in St. Ann’s so I began to get really worried. 

I managed to call a friend to check into things and later that afternoon I found the power might be on later in the evening.  By mid afternoon I went up to the subdivision where the problem was and managed to talk to the supervisor who said he hoped to have the power on that evening but would call in the evening for an update.

Things look promising but it always pays to have a back-up plan. I managed to get a hold of Anne Regina, the person who books the hall and told her my story. I booked the St. Michael’s Parish Hall as a back-up just in case the power was not restored. In the meantime, I stayed in touch with Gaelic College informing them of what was happening throughout the day and evening. That evening I got a call from NS Power around 7:45 pm.  the power would not be restored that evening.  My wife and I spent the next 2.5 hours calling as many people to tell them the conference venue had changed and was now in Baddeck. Later I e-mailed everyone as well.

The next day, my team was in Baddeck early to setup the hall and get ready. My wife stayed at Gaelic College for an hour to let people know the venue had changed. Luckily St. Ann’s is only 15 minutes away. I borrowed our coffee and tea machine and put got coffee and tea on. One less thing to worry about. Next it was food for breaks, one of our team members, Kim went for supplies at local co-op store. Down to the big one – lunch. Kim came up with a great idea – call the restaurant and have lunch there. He had limited staff on and he was closing this week but just maybe he could do it. After a few calls and Kim’s help, he agreed and we were in business. Now we could all relax. Thanks to my team, and volunteers the conference went on and people enjoyed it as well the beautiful sunny day.